The Hindu : Kerala News : Contractors seek steps for non-stop supply of materials

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 08, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Contractors seek steps for non-stop supply of materials

Staff Reporter

`Cost of materials has gone up by 35 per cent due to the tipper lorry strike'

KOCHI: The All Kerala Government Contractors' Association has demanded that the Government make arrangements for supply of construction materials to complete the works undertaken by contractors.

The works were stopped owing to tipper lorry strike, said Joji Joseph, secretary of the district unit of the association, at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Mr. Joseph said the cost of the materials had gone up by about 35 per cent due to the strike. The restriction on the use of other vehicles for carrying the load hampered the execution of works on time, he said.

He said the process of receiving payments from the Public Works Department (PWD) by means of cheques has run into rough weather. He alleged that the practice of obtaining certificate for each work from the Sales Tax Deputy Commissioner as a condition to the cheque payment has resulted in corruption. He urged the Government to exclude the VAT registered contractors from the purview of the regulation.

The contractors were facing shortage of tar for the road works after the Government imposed restrictions on distribution of tar for `budget work'. This had resulted in undue delay in completion of works. The association would be forced to stop work from March 15 if the government failed to solve the problems confronted by them, he said

District unit president of the association K.A. Abdulla and treasurer M.V. Sojumon were also present at the press meet.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section